Ligue 1: The Fall Of Patrice Evra At Marseille

Marseille's French defender Patrice Evra (C) is escorted off the pitch by teammates Portuguese defender Rolando and Brazilian defender Doria (R) after an argument with supporters before the start of the UEFA Europa League group I football match Vitoria SC vs Marseille at the D. Afonso Henriques stadium in Guimaraes on November 2, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / MIGUEL RIOPA (Photo credit should read MIGUEL RIOPA/AFP/Getty Images)

It is shameful to see that servants of the game who were once respected as heroes to the sports in their homeland are now rendered as enemies of the sports and society and deservedly cast away as traitors, stained with the mark of not being good enough to play the sport and instead resort to taking on those who are in the right to render their fallen legends wrong.

Patrice Evra’s time at Olympique de Marseille, managed by Rudi Garcia, is nearing its conclusion, if owner Frank McCourt and Garcia are smart and listen to the prevailing will of the fans, among the best in French club football with a passion and solidarity that is trademark of the Massalian way…they will waive Evra and release him to the transfer window. At that point, it is clear that the incident in Guimaraes, Portugal is a curtain call that ends a once illustrious but now fading career.

Marseille fans' message to Patrice Evra. 'You thought you were bigger than the club & fans. We don't want you in our colours. F**k off Evra' pic.twitter.com/uGdC83aSdO

Too old. Too slow. Not good enough. The boos and jeers by the provocateurs, the active support that are the most affluent critics of OM, let Evra, who was a substitute for the UEFA Europa League match that day against Vitoria, a match they lost 1-0, hear it before he attacked one of the supporters and earned a pre-match red card. He then had the audacity to enjoy the match with some young kids in the press box before proclaiming, “I love this game!” A saying more reminiscent of the National Basketball Association.

“Everybody has to make their own view about it,” said Marcel Desailly, a former France international. “From the moment that you are inside a football arena you are talking about football, from the fans that are doing their crazy things sometimes, and eventually the players that have to be an example.

“Then you have your own judgment about that, so now we’ll leave it for the French [Football] Federation and eventually UEFA to decide what it’s about. Everyone knows you should try and keep your nerves, but I’m very sad because he has had a great career and I would not like him to finish like this. He has his own reason, I hope he will apologise and he can move on and allow the game to continue.”

According to a statement from Ligue 1, “Jacques-Henri Eyraud, President of Olympique de Marseille, met Patrice Evra today and informed him of his layoff with immediate effect and his summons to an interview prior to a possible disciplinary sanction.”

However, it is clear that his actions have caused him to fall out of favor with Marseille’s ultras and this begins the endgame for Evra at OM. Never a major factor. Too old. Too slow. Not good enough for Ligue 1 or football. Now is the time for Patrice Evra to retire from football and stick to doing videos on social media.

Jo-Ryan Salazar is a writer for The Stoppage Time, a soccer blog powered by Azteca Soccer. A supporter of the Los Angeles Galaxy since 1996 and a committed supporter since 2002, Jo-Ryan also follows Chelsea FC, Melbourne Victory, FC Tokyo and Paris Saint-Germain. Apart from soccer, Jo-Ryan is an administrative assistant for a local nonprofit in Long Beach, California and also does photography, photo-editing and fictional writing.